Birch Creek is a tributary of the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Beginning at the confluence of Ptarmigan and Eagle creeks near Porcupine Dome, it flows southwest, then south under the

Steese Highway The Steese Highway (known as the Steese Expressway within Fairbanks) is a highway in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from Fairbanks to Circle, a town on the Yukon River about 50 miles (80 km) south of the Arc ...

and into the

Steese National Conservation Area The Steese National Conservation Area encompasses of public land about northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System. Created by the Alaska National Int ...

. It then turns east, then north, again passing under the Steese Highway and entering the

Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wetland area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It encompasses most of the Yukon Flats, a vast wetland area centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River. ...

. Turning northwest, it ends where it splits into two

distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary ...

, Lower Mouth Birch Creek and Upper Mouth Birch Creek, near

Birch Creek, Alaska Birch Creek (''Łiteet'aii'' in Gwich’in) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 33 at the 2010 census, up from 28 in 2000. Geography The village is along Birch Creek, abou ...

. The distributaries flow into the

at separate locations downstream of

Fort Yukon Fort Yukon (''Gwichyaa Zheh'' in Gwich'in) is a city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, straddling the Arctic Circle. The population, predominantly Gwich'in Alaska Natives, was 583 at the 2010 census, down from 595 ...

History

The first human inhabitants of the region were probably Gwich'in people who hunted and fished along the creek. Gold was found along the creek in 1893. Circle City sprang up as the Alaska Interior's first gold town, governed democratically by traditional miners' meetings. Old mining and trapping cabins are part of the Birch Creek landscape, and mining continues in the 21st century.

Distributaries

Upper Mouth Birch Creek flows northwest from Birch Creek to enter the Yukon River southwest (downstream) of Fort Yukon. The coordinates of the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of the Upper Mouth are . Lower Mouth Birch Creek flows southwest from Birch Creek to enter Lower Birch Creek Slough southwest of Fort Yukon.''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', p. 600 An

anabranch An anabranch is a section of a river or stream that diverts from the main channel or stem of the watercourse and rejoins the main stem downstream. Local anabranches can be the result of small islands in the watercourse. In larger anabranches, th ...

of the Yukon River, the slough flows southwest roughly parallel to the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

for . The coordinates for the mouth of Lower Mouth Birch Creek are .

Recreation

The

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM) oversees of Birch Creek declared "wild" in 1980 as part of the

National Wild and Scenic Rivers System The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

. People floating the stream in canoes, kayaks, or rafts can put in at a BLM wayside and take out at another BLM wayside further downstream. Both are along the Steese Highway. Between these two points, the creek is rated mostly Class I on the International Scale of River Difficulty, but some segments are rated Class II (medium) or III (difficult). Sports fishing for

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

and

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Misso ...

along Birch Creek can be "outstanding", according to ''Alaska Fishing''. The larger pike frequent the lower reaches of the creek as well as sloughs, ponds, and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s in the

Yukon Flats The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in ...

. Grayling prefer the headwaters. The stream corridor has no developed camping sites. Gravel bars in the creek are sometimes used for camping. In February, the creek serves as a part of the trail for the

Yukon Quest The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon. Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and ...

sled dog race. Other winter activities along the stream include dog mushing, trapping, and cross-country skiing.

References

External links

Birch Creek Wild and Scenic River
- BLM page {{authority control Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Tributaries of the Yukon River Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

History

Distributaries

Recreation

See also

References

External links